The Trick To Hitting A Moving Target
The pressure is on when you're trying to hit a moving target.There are always people around to criticize you, or to give you free advice on how to do it.Nothing is ever quite right when you're taking aim, either.You're too old.You're too young.Your idea is too big.Your idea is too small.Your life is too comfortable.Your life isn't uncomfortable enough.The target is always moving.This ebb and flow is a thought pattern that flows through all of us and it can dangerously warp reality if we let it.The good news is that if we realize we're stuck in our own heads, we can start to see clearly again.If we realize that these are excuses and not truths, we can begin to realize the target was in our sights the whole time.RE: The trick to hitting a moving target is realizing that we're the ones moving it.You have more control than you think.
2 Minute Action
What's a criticism you have of yourself? How has it held you back?What might happen if you didn't believe it? What might happen if you had a magic wand and that criticism disappeared forever?What might you be free enough to do, then?What if you gave yourself permission to ignore the voice and do it anyway?
Anyone Else Trying To Do This and Failing??
The 5 E's.The 6 Step Method.The Secret Formula that will 5x your output.
We're all looking for it.
This collective search is the definition of a "market;" a group of people simultaneously in need of a service or product.This means that we are subject to headlines and programs and blogs and online courses that promise big, life-changing results.I've done it on both sides; as a producer and as a consumer.But you already know the truth.You know when you get that funny feeling in the pit of your stomach that squints and says: "this is too good to be true."Because it is--and you're right--almost always.So how do we get tricked into more online courses and products that make big promises that we never implement?Here's the hard-to-handle truth: we don't trust ourselves. We may have built a track record of big dreams, hopes or a string of half-started projects. So if this is our data, why should we trust ourselves?We could be wrong. This lack of confidence in ourselves leaves us open to influence.
But remember:
Big, hairy audacious goals are made up of lots of little, achievable tasks.It's only after we conquer these small things, and build a new track record of success, that we'll trust ourselves with the big stuff.Then we'll have more confidence in that little skeptical voice that's trying to tell us something important!Trust is built with others the same way it is built with ourselves--yet, most of us are completely clueless.Everyone is starting with the big stuff and failing when the REAL secret is to start with the small stuff.Small, daily, relentless actions."Publish a book" is a big goal, so it's not a small task.But "call 5 publishers" is an achievable, measurable goal."Write a book" is a big goal, so it's not a small task."Write a blog post" is an achievable, measurable goal.Big goals are not checkboxes. You can't do it in one move. They're made up of small, achievable, measurable tasks.
2 Minute Action
What's a big "someday maybe" project you've had on your list?What's a smaller, achievable task you can check off in the next 2 minutes?Is it an email to a friend? Is it a sales call to a supplier? Is it a Facebook Live video asking for critical feedback on your work?Start there. Don't plan everything else out. Just do that, today. Once you do that, the next step will become more clear--and you'll have the momentum of success to move you forward.This is building trust with YOU and you've got to start before you can see the ending. This is the difficult, invisible stuff that stops us from making it.But you know better.
4 Unintuitive Ways To Be Useful To People
One of my favorite humans, Derek Sivers, has a phenomenal talent.
It's not just that he's good at software.And it's not that he's built a huge following of fans.It's not even that he's articulate and kind and an all-around good person.Probably my favorite thing about him is how he distills complexity into palatable, pithy nuggets.It might be the single most useful thing in today's day and age.We're living in the "Age of Distraction," more than the "Information Age."Think about it, you get my email, along with how many others? Too many to count.The problem isn't having the information, it's knowing useful information from useless information. This is where Sivers adds a ton of value.Just like my list of 11 Rules That Will Change Your Life Forever, he's spent his whole lifetime (so far) breaking down concepts, books, ideas, and strategies into digestible chunks. Admittedly, he's truly a master of this.Here's his list of ways to be useful. I was surprised at how much I agree with him on some of these.
How To Be Useful To Others
- Get Famous. Do everything in public and for the public. The more people you reach the more useful you are. The opposite is hiding, which is of no use to anyone.
- Get Rich. Money is neutral proof that you're adding value to people's lives. So, by getting rich, being useful is a side effect. Once rich, spend the money in ways that are useful to others, then getting rich is doubly useful.
- Share strong opinions. Strong opinions are very useful to others. Those who are undecided or ambivalent can just adopt your stance, but those who disagree can solidify their stance by arguing against yours. So even if you invent an opinion for the sole sake of argument, sharing a strong opinion is very useful to others.
- Be expensive. People, when given a placebo pill, where twice as likely to say the pill worked when told that pill was expensive. People who paid more for tickets were more likely to attend the performance. So people who spend more for a product or service value it more and get more use out of it.
Whoa.I didn't see all of that coming, did you?
2 Minute Action:
Is what you're doing useful? Do you want it to be?Reply here with one of these rules that resonated with you and another that really surprised you.And then (the most important part) write why you might be feeling this way.